AG Ken Paxton sues electricity provider Griddy for 'deceptive practices'

AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Monday against electricity provider Griddy, for violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act through "false, misleading, and deceptive advertising and marketing practices," a statement said.

After the historic winter storm left millions of Texans without power, some individuals reported seeing sky-high electricity bills. Many of those who have reported receiving large bills are customers of Griddy, which only operates in Texas.

A Chambers County resident also recently filed a class-action lawsuit against Griddy, accusing the provider of price gouging customers during last week's freeze. She is seeking $1 billion in relief for affected customers.

"Griddy misled Texans and signed them up for services which, in a time of crisis, resulted in individual Texans each losing thousands of dollars," Paxton said. "As Texans struggled to survive this winter storm, Griddy made the suffering even worse as it debited outrageous amounts each day. As the first lawsuit filed by my office to confront the outrageous failure of power companies, I will hold Griddy accountable for their escalation of this winter storm disaster. My office will not allow Texans to be deceived or exploited by unlawful behavior and deceptive business practices."

The lawsuit seeks relief from Griddy to ensure that Texans will receive truthful and accurate energy in the future, and to get refunds from available sources.

Griddy, which launched in 2017, charges $10 a month to give people a way to pay wholesale prices for electricity instead of a fixed rate. It warned customers of raising prices and urged them to switch providers. The company said wholesale prices returned to normal as of Feb. 20.

SEE ALSO: Some Texans could be hit with spiking power bills

The electricity retailer recently addressed concerns of price gouging on its website and firmly placed the blame on the Public Utility Commission. The company states that it did not profit from raised prices.

SEE ALSO: Griddy customer in Houston slapped with $5,500 power bill this week

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